


Perseverance: Bayley

by AttackPlatypus



Series: The Perseverance-verse [7]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Bayley is also busy, F/F, Gen, Hello Freddy Foreshadowing, Perseverance-verse, one day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 12:20:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21074804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/pseuds/AttackPlatypus
Summary: Set three and a half years after Perseverance: A day in the life of Bayley Martinez, ESPN host and reporter.





	Perseverance: Bayley

**5:00 AM**

Bayley groaned as she heard the beeping of the alarm. 

She was used to it by now, even to the absurdly early hour. But that didn’t mean she had to handle it gracefully.

“Why?” she croaked sleepily as she rolled over and wrapped an arm around her wife’s waist in a vain hope that this might keep her in bed.

“You know why,” Sasha Banks whispered back in the darkness of their bedroom. Bayley felt, though didn’t see, her wife roll over to face her. A moment later she smiled sleepily as Sasha’s lips pressed against hers.

“But you don’t even have a fight scheduled, come on...stay in bed with me,” Bayley begged, knowing full well it was futile.

“If you wanted more time in bed together, you could always go to sleep earlier,” Sasha said in a voice that told Bayley she was smirking in the dark.

“Now you’re talking crazy,” Bayley snorted as she rolled back over and closed her eyes again. Her alarm wouldn’t go off for another half hour and she intended to enjoy every last second of those thirty minutes. 

Forty-five minutes later, Bayley was down in the gym. Sasha had paid to have one of the larger rooms in the house converted into a fully functional gym when she’d bought the place. Bayley had discovered this had a downside however in that it eliminated one of her go-to reasons to not work out. Namely, that it was a pain to get to the gym. Not so when it was downstairs. 

This morning she was hitting the heavy bag that hung in the corner of the room. She’d never incorporated combat sports workouts into her routine before moving in with Sasha but now she found that she loved them. It was cathartic to spend time hitting something. She’d already worked up a good sweat and she was fully in the groove. It helped that one of her favorite songs was blaring through the gym’s sound system.

“Straighten your fist out, if you keep punching with your hand goosenecked you’ll hurt yourself,” a voice said from behind her. Turning, Bayley found Sasha standing behind her. Bayley’s wife was dressed for a workout herself but she wouldn’t be doing it here. Sasha used their home gym mostly in the evenings, she preferred to train at Meng’s gym on most days or the Madjai center in the runup to a fight.

“Like this?” Bayley asked as she turned back the bag and threw a few more punches, being mindful of Sasha’s words.

“Better,” Sasha said. Bayley couldn’t help but beam at the note of pride she heard in the other woman’s voice. She was getting ready to throw a few more punches when she felt Sasha’s arms wrap around her from behind. A moment later they were joined by Sasha’s head resting against the back of Bayley’s neck.

“I’m so gross right now!” Bayley protested limply, even as she let herself be turned around. When her eyes met Sasha’s she felt that familiar tingling she always did when she really looked at her wife. The absolute certainty that here, before her, was her soul mate.

“You’re never gross,” Sasha said quietly as she kissed Bayley. Bayley returned the kiss, her arm going around Sasha’s waist. They stayed like that for a few moments before Bayley pulled back.

“You mean that?” she asked.

“Always.”

“But what about if...I DO THIS!” Bayley said as she suddenly lifted her arm and pushed her armpit right into Sasha’s face. She was rewarded by Sasha stepping back and spluttering indignantly.

“What the hell?” Sasha asked, sounding annoyed.

“I told you,” Bayley said as she waggled her eyebrows and then turned back to the bag.

“And you really felt like THAT was necessary to prove your point?” 

“Of course, because I’m one classy broad,” Bayley joked.

“You’re something.”

Bayley turned back around and caught Sasha’s wrist as the other woman turned to leave. This time it was Sasha’s turn to be pulled into an embrace. “I love you,” Bayley told her as she kissed Sasha’s forehead.

“I love you too, stinky lady,” Sasha teased.

“Oh, you sweet talker!”

  
  


**7:15 AM**

Bayley was enjoying a spirited one-woman carpool karaoke concert on her way to work. But she wasn’t merely singing. No, she was performing! 

“_ IF YOU COULD SEE THAT I’M THE ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS YOU, BEEN HERE ALL ALONG, SO WHY CAN’T YOU SEEEEEEEEEE-” _

Her very loud and off-key caterwauling was cut off when her car informed her she had an incoming call. A quick glance at her dash told her the identity of the caller and brought a smile to her face. She tapped a control on her wheel and answered.

“Hey, Char, how are you?”

“_ Hey Bay!” _Charlotte Flair answered. Bayley’s friend sounded happy like she always was when they spoke, but Bayley could tell something else was on her mind. 

“What’s up? How are Becky and Boston?” Bayley asked. Knowing Charlotte like she did she was aware she’d have to wait for the other woman to come out with what was bothering her.

“_ Becky is great, just being Becky. She’s having lunch today with Rob Gronkowski, I think he’s going to try and convince her to do a second season of ‘Becks and Gronk’.” _

“Oh god, yes, please!” Bayley burst out in genuine excitement. She’d watched every episode of the reality show that had featured Becky and Gronkowski going to different sporting events across the country. From the heights of the College Football Championship to a local high school soccer game in Saugus. Stuffing their faces with local foods and soaking in the different atmospheres. 

“_ Ugh, don’t tempt her! And Siobhan is doing great as well, she’s here now with me. Say hi to auntie Bayley…” _

Bayley beamed as she heard the phone being handed to someone else followed by her god daughter’s squeaky voice. “Auntie Bayley! Guess what?!”

“¿Te acuerdas de tu español?_ ” _Bayley prompted her kindly. There was a short pause as the little girl tried to remember the vocabulary she’d learned from Bayley.

“_ ¿Adivina...qué?” _Siobhan asked hesitantly.

“Muy buena chica inteligente…” Bayley cheered before she switched back to English “...Now, tell me the big news!”

“_ Auntie Ruby got me a tattoo!” _the little girl declared in triumph.

“Ah, what?” Bayley asked, sure she’d misheard. 

“_ She got Siobhan a henna tattoo,” _Charlotte explained.

“Ah, gotcha. Well, that is so cool mi nina ruda!” Bayley said, matching Siobhan’s enthusiasm and using her favorite nickname for her.

“_ Honestly, couldn’t you all just get together and pick one nickname for my daughter!” _Charlotte whined.

“Don’t listen to your mom, you deserve them all Little Boss,” Bayley said with a grin.

“_ Gee, thanks, Bay. Now say goodbye to your aunt!” _Charlotte told her daughter.

“Adios nina ruda!” Bayley said.

“_ Adios, tia!” _Siobhan called. Bayley then heard the sound of little feet scampering away.

“She is adorable, Char,” Bayley told her friend.

“_ She really is…” _Charlotte said in the dreamy tone of voice she always did when she was reveling over her daughter. Bayley smiled as she imagined the look but then gently brought her friend back.

“So, what’s up, Char?” she asked.

Charlotte took a moment to refocus. “_ So, I kind of need a favor.” _

“Name it, if I can I’ll do it,” Bayley said immediately.

“_ You think we could do a swap for the interview we have scheduled with you next week?” _

Bayley frowned. “What do you mean?”

“_ Well, it’s just that we’re emphasizing Toni right now. Sort of just riding the train after her last knockout. So it seemed like a shame not to get her front in center on the best damn MMA show around.” _

Bayley smiled at this and laughed. “First, it’s the only one around. Second, Toni is a good get for us but I know Rue was really excited about this. Is she going to be OK with this?”

_ “Oh, you know Rue. She’s a good soldier, she’ll be fine. She knows the game. And I’m sure you’ll have time for her again in the future, right?” _

Bayley thought about reminding Charlotte, not for the first or fifth time, that because of their friendship she had to be very careful about how she booked her show. If FCS fighters (or T&B ones for that matter) began appearing too frequently on the show then serious questions would be asked about Bayley’s objectivity. And there was enough concern at the network that a formal set of guidelines had been handed down by Bayley’s bosses governing this very thing.

Bayley wasn’t quite as certain as Charlotte that Ruby would just laugh this off. But there wasn’t much future in arguing. She could insist on the interview going to Ruby, but that would just annoy Charlotte. And quite apart from being Bayley’s friend, the other woman was a very powerful figure in the MMA world. 

“Alright, I’ll talk to my people today,” Bayley said after a brief deliberation.

“_ Great! I’ll talk to Toni and Ruby. You think you’ll be out here anytime soon?” _ Charlotte asked, sounding very happy.

“Yeah, the network bosses want me out in Bristol pretty soon here, I’ll make sure and tell you when I’m going to be in the area,” Bayley said, already feeling some early stirrings of excitement at seeing her friends.

“_ Please do, I’ll talk to you soon, Bay.” _

“See ya,” Bayley said as she ended the call.

  
  


**8:30 AM**

Bayley made one stop on the way into work. She did this so that now, as she walked into her morning production/pitch meeting with her staff, she wasn’t empty-handed.

“I come bearing doughnuts and coffee!” she said happily as she set a box down on the conference table and then left the room only to return with two carriers full of coffee. Bayley hadn’t just bought eight black coffees either, she knew every staff member present personally down to their preferred coffee orders.

Bayley had heard from others that she shouldn’t be trying to be the ‘popular boss’. But she didn’t feel this was what she was doing. She wasn’t cynically pandering to her staff hoping they’d like her, she just felt that people worked better together if they had some actual connection to each other. There wasn’t one person around the table she didn’t like, she had, after all, hand-selected all of them. 

Three of the people around the table were reporters. First in seniority was Maven Huffman. Maven had been a fighter many years before, he’d been solid but had never achieved any great success. He’d then transitioned to a TV career which had eventually landed him at ESPN doing combat sports reporting. He’d actually worked on the Rose report briefly before he’d clashed with Mandy Rose and ended up in a kind of professional limbo. One of Bayley’s first moves upon taking over the show had been to bring him back. Huffman was a lot like Bayley in how he practiced journalism, and so they made a good team. 

Next in order of experience came Aliyah al-Areebi. Aliyah had cut her teeth doing sideline reporting for college football games. But then she’d taken an assignment as one of the network’s Big 10 correspondents and had really come into her own. Many in the company had felt it was only a matter of time before she ended up behind an anchor desk. So it had come as some surprise to Bayley when Aliyah had approached her about coming to work on the MMAyley Report. 

When Bayley had asked her why she wanted to make such a drastic change in her career, the other woman had just shrugged as though it was obvious. “I’d get to work for you,” had been her simple response. This had caught Bayley wholly off guard, she had no idea at the time that she had such a reputation. But she’d found that she’d become something of a folk hero among the female employees at ESPN. Whatever her reasons though, Bayley was grateful every day that she had al-Areebi on her team.

Rounding out Bayley’s reporter team was Dakota Kai. Even though she’d been given a great deal of freedom with her show, Bayley had been forced to stretch quite a point over the young New Zealander. Dakota had no professional training in journalism and hadn’t even done her first radio interview until only a few weeks before Bayley had insisted on hiring her.

Bayley had been willing to take the risk on Kai simply because Dakota was just like her. She had been working to get her own MMA site and blog off the ground. She’d begun some time after Bayley, but they’d crossed paths a few times and Dakota had always impressed Bayley. What she lacked in training and connections she more than made up for in enthusiasm and doggedness. 

Sometimes it was spooky how much she reminded Bayley of her younger self. They even looked somewhat alike. But maybe because of this, Bayley had determined to help the other woman succeed if she could.

Also at the table were her show’s two producers, Chad Gable and his Jason Jordan. Gable was the executive producer and Bayley’s indispensable right-hand man. She firmly believed that the person in charge had to be the person who worked the hardest. But Gable made this standard very hard for her to hold to since the man had a capacity for work that was astounding. 

As her executive producer, Gable essentially oversaw all of the day to day behind the scenes work of the MMAyley report. He (in collaboration with Bayley) set the direction for each show’s content, coordinated the work of the reporters, and stacked each show’s schedule. Though Bayley technically had the final say in all matters relating to the show, she often found herself deferring to Gable over content and guests when they disagreed. The man just had great instincts. 

Jordan was the assistant producer. At first, Bayley had been curious about what work Gable would leave for him to do. But the man had carved out his own niche by handling all the housekeeping duties that came with managing a staff and dealing with a network. Bayley, who had little taste for this kind of clerical and office work, was happy to let him do it.

Rounding out the team were Bayley’s graphics editor, Xia Li, and her scriptwriter/teleprompter operator, Angelina Love. Xia had been another case of someone jumping to work with Bayley based on her reputation, and Bayley was lucky to have her. She single-handedly did a job that usually took two or three people. Angelina had been plucked from a job at a local LA news station on the recommendation of AJ Styles. Bayley preferred to write as much of her own copy as possible but Angelina was great at filling in the gaps and indispensable on the teleprompter. 

These seven extraordinary people, plus Bayley herself, made up the show’s senior staff. Of course, it took many more people to make the whole machine work, but they didn’t have to attend these morning meetings. Bayley still made an effort to be on good terms with everyone involved in her show from her makeup artist to her camera operators. But she was closet to the people here with her now and as she watched the group around the table reaching for their coffee and doughnuts, Bayley couldn’t help but grin.

This was all hers, the fruits of all her hard work.

Taking her seat at the head of the table, Bayley beamed at her staff. HER staff. “Alright, guys, let’s get started. To begin with, I have some news about the Riott interview…”

  
  


**12:17 PM**

Bayley usually ate lunch in her office. It was simply the easiest option. Most days she would finish shooting the show and then she would nip down to the cafeteria and buy some food before taking it back up to her office. But today was an exception.

“Well, it’s ain’t quite how my momma made it but I suppose they did their best,” AJ Styles said as he nibbled on the edge of a fried green tomato. Or at least what the restaurant called a fried green tomato. Bayley picked one up and took a bite.

“They taste great to me,” she said 

“You didn’t grow up in the south,” Styles said, sounding almost accusatory. As though he had expected Bayley to take his side against the tomatoes.

“True enough…” Bayley shrugged. AJ had invited her out for lunch today and Bayley had suggested the location. The restaurant billed itself as a southern comfort food kitchen and, to Bayley’s mind, they did a pretty good job. Though as AJ had correctly pointed out, she was no expert like him.

“Now I’m just nervous about those shrimp and grits…” Styles muttered. 

Bayley laughed, they’d ordered a few minutes before and were now enjoying their appetizer. “I’ve seen you eat three stadium hot dogs in one game, how is this place a problem?”

“Because grits, catfish, cornbread, even fried green tomatoes are sacred,” Styles answered.

“Alright, more for me then,” Bayley said happily as she picked up another tomato and popped it into her mouth.

“Have at it, I can’t even stand to look at’em,” Styles groused good-naturedly. Despite his complaining, Bayley could tell her boss was in a good mood. 

“So…” she prompted him “...You don’t usually ask me to lunch unless you have something big to talk about.”

AJ pretended to be affronted. “That’s not true, we got beers last week.”

“That was couple's friends stuff…” Bayley countered “...By the way, how is Wendy? Did she try that recipe?”

“She’s great, so are the kids. She did try, those enchiladas are great. Did Charlotte Flair really fuck them up? They were so simple!”

Bayley laughed. “Well, not that exact recipe but cooking is not her strong suit.”

Styles laughed at this. “But yeah, you’re right. I got some good news for you.” Bayley just looked interested so he continued. “So, the network wants to move your show.”

Bayley’s eyebrows rose at that. Currently, the MMAyley report taped at 11 AM Pacific aired at 1 PM Pacific and 4 PM Eastern. It wasn’t a prime time slot by any means but it worked well for Bayley’s schedule. Most days she was done working by four. And, if she was honest, the fact that she had a combat sports-oriented daily talk show at any time was something of a minor miracle.

“Since you said you had good news, I assume that doesn’t mean we’re bound for overnights…” Bayley said.

AJ shook his head. “Bristol wants to air your show at six, eastern. You’d still shoot at the same time here but it would air on a two-hour tape delay.” This put Bayley’s first objection to bed, she’d been concerned she would end up having to stay late at work on a new schedule. But that was a minor quibble. Most of Bayley was rapidly filling with excitement.

“What would that mean for me and my team?” she asked AJ.

“Well, you’re in a better time slot so it will mean more pressure, a lot more. You know how hard we had to fight to get any kind of a show at all, never mind daily. Moving you closer to prime time would mean you’d be living under a microscope,” he answered with brutal honesty.

“Well, if you put it like that…” Bayley said sarcastically. But AJ held up a hand.

“I know it’s a lot, but it’s a raise for you and a more prestigious job.”

Bayley nodded. She didn’t actually ‘need’ a raise per se. She did well from her job but Sasha made more than enough money to support both of them. But it cut against Bayley’s grain to be a dependent of any kind. Besides this, she had other people to consider.

“More pressure and more prestige means a bigger budget?” Bayley asked.

“It does…” AJ answered, though cautiously.

“Then I want a raise for my whole team, all of them. Eight percent across the board,” Bayley said firmly. Styles leaned back in his chair to study her intently before he shook his head.

“There might be money for you and Gable, maybe another person. But for everyone? Not a chance.”

“Those are my terms,” Bayley said flatly.

“Look, Martinez…” AJ said “...You’re misreading this. You’re an employee of ESPN so this isn’t that kind of negotiation. You’re just being reassigned within the company. You might be able to get some small concessions but big demands could backfire big time.”

“What are they gonna do in Bristol? Take the show from me?” Bayley asked dryly.

“There would be a lot of steps between where we are and there but it’s a possibility.”

“Best of luck to them then…” Bayley said with a laugh “...As part of my contract, I still retain all the trademarks to the MMAyley brand. I’ve won two Emmys personally as the host, the show has another three during that same time. If Bristol wants to go nuclear about this I’ll happily take myself and my brand to someone else.”

“Whoa there…” Styles said as he held up his hands. Clearly, the conversation had taken a turn that wasn’t to his liking. “No need for that talk, I’m just saying don’t come at them doing one hundred. There’s room for a compromise.”

Bayley, who had deliberately staked out an extreme position so she could walk back from it, nodded. She’d expected AJ to say something like his last. He was her friend, mentor, and professional guardian angel. She knew how he operated. 

“I want a raise for my whole team, studio crew included,” she said as she held his gaze.

AJ considered. “I can’t come at them with 8%, that will just piss them off.”

Bayley just folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“They’ll want something back in return,” AJ said.

Bayley considered this for a while. She thought about the cards she had in her hand and carefully made her selection. “I’ll forgo my own raise,” she said finally. Styles raised his eyebrows at this, Bayley knew she’d impressed him with this.

“I still can’t do eight,” he said.

“Seven,” Bayley countered.

Now it was AJ’s turn to just look at her. Bayley sighed.

“Six, and that’s that,” she said grudgingly. Styles smiled at this.

“I’ll see if I can sell them on five and a half,” he said with a grin.

Bayley, who had actually been expecting to only get three or four, smiled back. As their food arrived, AJ looked over at with a smile that was now mischievous.

“You were hoping for five all along, weren’t you?” he asked, though it wasn’t really a question.

Bayley just grinned.

  
  


**2:00 PM**

Not for the first time, Bayley was arguing with one of her reporters.

“...It’s a story that needs to be covered...” Aliyah said insistently as she leaned forward over Bayley’s desk.

“Maybe, but not now,” Bayley answered calmly. They’d been at it for almost ten minutes now, neither woman budging from their initial positions.

Aliyah was trying to convince (or bludgeon) Bayley into signing off on her current story. According to some anonymous former UFC employees that Aliyah had spoken to the MMA promotion was growing increasingly concerned with the number of defections it was facing. The largest siphon was Brawl for All, but other MMA promotions and even professional wrestling had begun to chip away as well. It was an interesting angle, but Bayley had reservations.

“Aliyah…” Bayley said as she pressed her palms to her desk “...You have a good concept here. But you don’t have anyone on record, not even a current UFC employee. You don’t think you’re risking having all your work dismissed as the ranting of former employees? Two of whom were fired?”

“I don’t give a shit what some idiots think, I know this is real,” Aiyah shot back.

“Well, I do care what people think. I care because I care about your reputation. I also care about this show’s reputation and this story, as it is now, will hurt it!” Bayley said, finally showing some fire of her own. Of course, this just fed Aiyah’s defiance.

“I’ll worry about my reputation, thanks,” she said sarcastically. “And you know how it works, get people talking about it and others will come forward. Isn’t that how you got Bob Orton to back off of the Flair gym.” 

Bayley sighed. The story of how she’d slain the dragon that was Bob Orton had become something of a legend among sports journalists. And it was almost always misremembered, distorted, or simply embellished with colorful lies. In truth, Bayley hadn’t made Orton do anything. That had been all Charlotte.

“As you well know…” Bayley began in a voice of forced calm “...No, that is not how I handled the Orton story. In fact, I didn’t tell anyone at all that I was working on it until very late in the process. And I only did that after I had gotten a source on record and supported their statement with some actual evidence. Get me those things and we’ll run with your story, I promise.”

Aliyah looked like she was about to argue more when she was cut off by someone clearing their throat. Maven, who had been sitting beside Dakota and who had thus far not taken part in the discussion, looked over at the younger reporter.

“It’s not like the story will go stale if you need to take some more time. If UFC is worried about this now, they will be next week and the week after,” he said. He then turned to look at Bayley with a raised eyebrow. “In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to give her more resources.”

Maven was ever the peacemaker in these meetings. His experience had made him a kind of informal leader among the reporters and Bayley appreciated his willingness to act as such. She and Aliyah were different enough in temperament that they were often at odds with each other despite their friendship. Even so, Bayley was still coming out of her arguing mode and thus wasn’t yet fully willing to be magnanimous. “A private jet? A one million dollar per diem? Something like that?” she asked sarcastically.

Maven just smiled before answering. “How about Dakota?”

If Aliyah looked surprised by this suggestion, and she definitely did, it was nothing to how Dakota looked. The youngest person in the room, Dakota hadn’t spoken yet either. But unlike Maven, who did so because he was waiting for the right moment, Dakota was still intimidated by her surroundings and her co-workers. It wasn’t that surprising though, not long before this she’d been working as a blogger from her home in Wellington. But Bayley believed in her and she thought Maven’s idea was an excellent one.

“I suppose we’ve wasted you on training wheel stories long enough,” she said to Dakota with a grin. Dakota did her best to return the expression but it didn’t quite come out right and looked more like a grimace.

“Dakota can run backup to Aliyah on this one, another pair of legs and eyes to run down leads and do research. If the story is as big as Aliyah thinks, and I trust her instincts, then we want this on the MMAyley report. But we want to do it right the first time,” Maven said, the last two sentences being aimed at Bayley and Aliyah respectively.

Aliyah still didn’t look fully convinced. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Dakota, Bayley couldn’t imagine anyone disliking the kiwi, but she was skeptical. Part of it was the almost genetic trait among journalists to be skeptical (or occasionally condescending) toward mere bloggers. Bayley had dealt with this herself for many frustrating years. But it was also the fact that Dakota was still very new at this level of reporting, whereas Aliyah had been doing it for years. And there was something else too, and Bayley thought she knew exactly what it was.

“It’s still your story, Aliyah, your name goes on it. Dakota is just going to help. You get some assistance and she gets to work on her first major story. Win-win,” Bayley said. She knew she’d been right on the money with her guess because Aliyah’s posture relaxed noticeably.

“Sure, I’m happy to have the help…” she said with a smile to Dakota. Then she turned back to Bayley and she was all killer instinct again. “But when I get this done I want to lead off.”

Bayley barked a laugh at this. “IF you make this happen to my satisfaction and Chad’s, then you’ll get half an hour and a sit-down.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Aliyah said, and Bayley knew she would. 

When the meeting began to break up a little while later, Bayley cleared her throat. “Dakota, would you mind giving me a minute?” The younger woman looked a little startled but she hung back as the other reporters left. A moment later they were alone.

“Did I do something wrong?” Dakota asked, her New Zealand accent becoming more pronounced under stress.

“Relax, you’re not in trouble,” Bayley said as she waved Dakota back down into her seat. “I just wanted to check in with you. Make sure you’re adjusting well and that you are feeling comfortable here.”

Dakota took a moment to think before she answered. “I don’t really know.” Bayley nodded at the response. She’d known that Dakota was dealing with something and so would have been disappointed if the other woman had tried to respond like nothing was wrong.

“Talk to me,” was all Bayley said.

Dakota shrugged helplessly. “I don’t want to seem ungrateful, Ms. Martinez. I just...I feel like I don’t belong here sometimes. The others are all professionals and have been doing this forever, hell I wasn’t even ten when Maven started. They know all the terminology and the rules and I’m just...me.” She said this last in such a hopeless tone of voice that it made Bayley’s heart break.

She wanted to hug Dakota. But she wouldn’t. That wasn’t what the younger woman needed right now.

“So?” she asked, archly. Dakota looked shocked at this response. This, itself, wasn’t surprising. Bayley had been nothing but supportive of her up until now. And Bayley wanted to be now, but she knew that Dakota didn’t need a helping hand...she needed a kick in the ass. 

“I...what?” Dakota asked.

“You think I had the kind of formal training that Maven or Aliyah have when I started? I just had a writing degree and nothing else. So what if you don’t know the terms or the ways they do things? Do you think I hired you, specifically, so I could get another standard reporter? Newsflash, I would have just taken one of the dozens of other resumes I got if I wanted that. I hired you because I wanted Dakota Kai, the woman who made a name for herself in the MMA-sphere by doing things HER way. Now get your damn big girl panties on, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and go BE Dakota Kai!”

Dakota blinked but couldn’t find her voice. So Bayley softened hers.

“NEVER, let them see you panicking, or they’ll never treat you seriously again. They are always looking for a reason to look down on those of us who came up through a blog. So don’t give them an opening.”

Dakota was clearly stunned by this response but she managed a weak sort of nod. A moment later, a ghost of a smile appeared. “Still one of us blog wretches, huh?”

“Always, now get out of here and kick some ass.”

  
  


**4:51 PM**

“Eww, why do you eat that junk?” Liv Morgan said from the screen of Bayley’s phone. 

Bayley’s response to this was to raise the Clex burger she was eating so Liv could see it again and take an enormous bite out of it. Liv made a face of disgust in return.

“From what I hear, you’re the one who got Becky’s Clex card revoked so go ahead and dismount from that high horse,” Bayley said around a mouthful of food.

“I get desserts!”

“Yeah, that makes it better.”

“YOU could be eating Mr. Piggles’ relative!” Liv insisted.

“Unless he’s always wearing a very cunning disguise, I doubt it. Since this is beef,” Bayley pointed out.

“You’re such a know it all.”

“Thank you. So to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I can’t just call to say hi?”

“You could, but you don’t usually, so what’s up?” Bayley asked as she took another bite. When Liv’s face suddenly took on a serious cast, Bayley thought she knew what the call was about.

“I...just wanted to ask you something,” Liv said nervously.

“Of course.”

“I wanted to know...if you could tell me what happened with Ruby’s interview?” Bayley sighed inwardly. She’d been afraid of this but she liked Liv a lot, so she wouldn’t lie to her. 

“Charlotte called me and asked if we would be willing to take Toni instead of Ruby for next week, she said that the gym wanted to prioritize Toni’s PR at the moment,” Bayley said. Liv was silent for a few moments before she sighed.

“Yeah, I kind of figured it would be something like that…” Liv said quietly.

“How’s Rue taking it?” Bayley asked, setting her food aside.

“She’s…” Liv hesitated in a way that made Bayley uneasy “...She’s dealing with it. She kinda gets it but she’s disappointed, obviously.”

“I’m sorry, Liv, and you can tell Ruby that too. But Charlotte is still a team owner-” Bayley started to say, but Liv didn’t let her finish.

“No, no, Bay, don’t do that…” the other woman said “...I get it for you. Toni IS the bigger star and it’s not like you could force Charlotte to make one of her fighters available.”

“No, but I do want to get Ruby on the show. I mean that,” Bayley insisted.

“We know,” Liv said, finally sounding more like herself again. “And I’m sure Ruby will sit down and talk with Charlotte again here soon. It’s just that right now she’s still feeling a little hurt.”

“I understand, should I call her later?” Bayley asked.

“I’m sure she’d like that but...she probably won’t be ready to talk about the interview,” Liv cautioned.

“I get it,” Bayley said. She really did too, she knew exactly how prickly fighters could be on occasions like this. She was married to Sasha Banks after all.

“Thanks, Bay, I appreciate you telling me this.”

“Of course, see you when I come out East soon?” Bayley asked, hopefully.

“Definitely! We’ll go to that pub again!” Liv said, now sounding marginally happier.

“It’s a date,” Bayley said before hanging up. She was glad she had been able to talk to Liv about the interview, it had been niggling at her all day. She’d call Ruby later too and, hopefully, everything would be OK. 

  
  


**7:28 PM**

“...And that’s all for today, thanks, everyone! I’ll look forward to talking to you next time!” Bayley called to her audience. These words were greeted by the shuffling and scraping sounds of a large body of people standing and gathering their things. Bayley took the opportunity to move over to her small table to retrieve her computer and papers.

She was standing in one of the larger lecture halls at Wolf of the Black Rose Community College. Bayley had no ideas as to the origin of the odd name, she was just happy to be here. Bayley had always enjoyed teaching whenever she’d had the chance to do so, and had always vowed that she would the kind of reporter who helped others rather than fought with them. Both aspects of her personality had been gratified when the college had reached out to her with an offer.

WBRCC had asked Bayley if she would be willing to guest lecture for the school’s journalism department. Bayley had been delighted by the opportunity. She had been worried at first that she wouldn’t be able to devote the proper amount of time to her teaching. But she was only responsible for two lectures a month, which she could work into her schedule. She’d insisted on doing these on a voluntary basis, not feeling right about taking money for such a small amount of work.

She’d also been concerned that the lectures might turn into a chore. Yet another demand on her time that she’d come to resent. She’d dreaded this possibility, given how seriously she took mentoring opportunities. But things had worked out to be the exact opposite. Bayley looked forward to these lectures every month, taking many hours to perfect them.

“Excuse me, Professor Martinez?” a voice said from behind Bayley. She finished packing her laptop away before turning around to find one of her students standing in front of her.

“Enough with the ‘professor’ stuff, I’m not a professor. Just someone lucky enough to come in here and talk to you guys occasionally,” she said with a grin. She then spent the next fifteen minutes answering questions from students and then taking a picture with another one. This had happened a lot when she’d first began teaching, though it was less common now. Still, a fan was a fan and she always tried to be gracious.

When Bayley finally left the school around eight she was tired and ready to go home. She was looking forward to cuddling with her wife and maybe watching some old “Becks and Gronk” episodes. But before she could make it to her car, she found someone waiting for her. 

“Hello! Hi! Are you Bayley?” said a thin man who had seemingly staked out Bayley’s car. He had a stringy mop of straw blonde hair and a wispy beard of the same color. He was probably an inch or so taller than Bayley but something about his presence made him seem shorter.

“Yes? I’m Bayley Martinez,” Bayley said with a bemused expression on her face. She offered her hand which he proceeded to ring with a great deal of enthusiasm.

“Oh, I know! I’m a huge fan! You’re work is soooo amazing!” he gushed as he continued to pump Bayley’s hand up and down. When Bayley eventually did retrieve her hand she found that he was still beaming at her.

“Well, thank you. I really appreciate your support,” she said with her ‘public’ smile on. She was used to meeting fans and knew how to handle this situation, though this man was a bit more intense than most.

“No! No! Thank you! I love your show! I love your blog! I follow all your stuff!” he said as he took a step closer to her, still beaming. Something about the man’s demeanor was hitting Bayley wrong though she couldn’t put her finger on it at the moment. So she kept her smile on her face as she took a half step past him.

“Well, thank you so much for your kind words. Sadly, I need to get going so-”

“Would you take a picture with me!” the man blurted quickly, and a bit too loudly. Bayley hesitated for just a moment but decided then that it might be a good way to get him to go away.

“Of course,” she said graciously as she set her bag in her car. She returned to the man’s side and smiled at the phone he was holding out in front of them. He put an arm around her waist then, which some people did though she didn’t love it from strangers. The man took several pictures before he looked at this phone eagerly.

“THIS IS IS SO COOL!” he almost shouted, startling Bayley.

“Great! Make sure to keep watching the show,” Bayley told him, trying to step away only to find his hand her arm.

“Hey, hey, would you mind maybe talking to me. I have so many good ideas and stuff. Maybe we could have lunch or something-” he started to say, but it was time for Bayley to put her foot down.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’d be comfortable with that. I’m sure you understand,” Bayley said apologetically though firmly. “It was very nice to meet you tonight sir, and-”

“Spike!” he blurted.

“What?”

“My name is Spike, Spike Dudley,” he said.

“Well…” Bayley said patiently “...Mr. Dudley-”

“Spike,” he insisted.

“Mr. Dudley…” Bayley said firmly “...Please have a good evening and thank you for your support. Goodnight.” He said something else but Bayley just nodded and smiled before getting into her car and leaving the school. She’d had off-putting encounters with some fans before, and she knew she’d have more in the future. So she put this one out of her mind quickly.

Using the controls on her dash she made a call through her car. After only two rings, Sasha picked up her phone.

“_ Hello?” _

“Hey you,” Bayley said as she smiled.

“_ Hey, you still at school?” _

“Just leaving, I’ll be home in about thirty minutes. Want me to get dinner?” Bayley asked.

“_ Nah, I got something special planned.” _

Bayley grinned. “Does that mean you’re burning something for me?”

“_ Well maybe not now, snotty!” _

“Don’t pout, I’m excited for whatever you have you planned,” Bayley said.

“_ Good, I’ve been working on it for a while.” _Bayley could hear the pride in her wife’s voice and this warmed her heart. Sasha still wasn’t much of a cook, but she was getting better.

“I’ll see you soon,” Bayley said with a smile. 

“_ Hurry home. Love you,” _Sasha answered. Bayley ended the call and drove the rest of the way home in silence. She thought about everything that had happened to her today, and the big news she had to share with Sasha about the show. All in all, she had a life far more perfect than she could ever have dreamed of. 

And she saw no reason why it couldn’t stay that way.

**Author's Note:**

> We're down the rabbit hole, my friends! We haven't forgotten the actual sequel but we want to make sure that you have something to satisfy your cravings in the meantime!
> 
> Enjoy~


End file.
